Maria Eduarda Rodrigues de Freitas: Police grill three men facing charges over fatal rope-jump incident

WARNING: Disturbing footage

Three men accused of throwing a young woman from a bridge in Brazil without a safety rope have been questioned by police as investigations continue to probe the horrific incident that claimed her life.

Maria Eduarda Rodrigues de Freitas, 21, died after plunging about 40 metres to her death from the Ponte de Esqueleto, or “Skeleton Bidge”, in São Paulo State on June 13.

Shocking footage of the incident, which has since gone viral, shows Ms de Freitas being carried to the edge of the bridge by three instructors.

Horrified witnesses can be heard screaming that the safety rope had not been attached moments before she was tossed from the bridge and plunged 40 metres to her death.

“The rope, people, the rope!”, voices in the background said.

Ms de Freitas suffered multiple fractures and was declared dead at the scene by emergency responders. An off-duty nurse who rushed to Ms de Freitas’ aid later revealed she did not immediately die after the fall.

Authorities charged three instructors, Maicon Fernandes Cintra, 42, Vitor de Freitas Gonçalves, 27, and Luis Felipe Feliciano Egoroff, 32, with homicide with implied malice.

According to statements provided to Brazilian police, obtained by news station EPTV, the trio were grilled by police following their arrests but allegedly struggled to explain how the fatal mistake occurred.

Mr Cintra and Mr Egoff admitted they were responsible for setting up the rope system but told investigators they could not remember how responsibilities had been divided on the day, G1 reports.

“Is a check done after the rope is put on to make sure it’s actually in place?” an investigator asked Mr Cintra.

“We say that we don’t understand and that it’s very visible, right?” Mr Cintra replied.

“It’s visible right in the chest … it’s right in the chest … so it’s difficult to understand how we didn’t see it. There are three of us from the operation, me, Felipe and Vitor … I can’t understand at what point I didn’t see a rope not being tied, I simply can’t understand, I can’t look and say, ‘You forgot here, you forgot there, you forgot over there’.”

When asked at what point he realised something had gone wrong, the instructor said it was only after witnessing the reactions of those gathered at the bridge.

“The reaction … the reaction of the people and even then … I haven’t seen the footage, but I think from that moment on my expression, my reaction at the time was one of disbelief and not understanding what had happened,” Mr Cintra said.

Mr Egoroff told investigators he could not recall who had been responsible for attaching the safety rope to Ms de Freitas before the fatality.

“Either it’s me or (Mr Cintra) who does it,” he said. “So I went ahead first, and after that it’s all erased from my mind … I don’t remember.”

Investigators pressed him on whether anyone had warned the group before the jump, asking: ““And did you hear someone behind you say, ‘The rope, the rope?’ No, you only realised what happened then?”

“There was a huge crowd, a lot of people talking, sometimes people go to the jump and start shouting. Like, I didn’t see anything. I saw someone with a video talking about the rope, but like, no, it didn’t go past, I didn’t see it,” Mr Egoroff replied.

Mr Goncalves reportedly told police he had been called down to assist the victim after she plunged below.

Investigators are also examining the unexplained disappearance of a GoPro camera Ms de Freitas was wearing to film the jump. Authorities have been unable to locate the device, while a witness alleged one of the instructors removed it before police arrived.

“The first scene I remember when I saw the girl on the ground was seeing one of the employees removing the GoPro camera from the neck strap of the body that was already on the ground, either worried about the equipment or wanting to hide evidence,” educator Rafael Goulart told EPTV.

It comes as Ms de Freitas’ heartbroken mother spoke out in the wake of her young daughter’s tragic death.

Hours after Ms de Freitas was farewelled at a funeral, her mother Valdenia Rodrigues posted a tribute to her “princess” on Instagram.

“That damned rope took you away from me forever,” she wrote, according to The Sun.

“My beloved daughter, you are gone and all that remains here is pain and longing.

“I will love you forever.”

“My beloved daughter, today alone I wanted to hug you more than a thousand times,” she wrote.

“How much your departure hurts me. I love you eternally, my princess. And thank you so much for being a part of my life for these 21 years.

“What an honor it was to hear you call me mom. God, thank you for this privilege.”

A friend who witnessed the horror fall also posted on social media, saying he “can’t believe” what happened, as reported by The Sun.

“I think it’s a nightmare and I’m going to wake up,” he wrote.

“You’re the most amazing person I’ve ever met. I love you, girl, I don’t know if I can handle all this.

“I’ll never forget you.”